Tag: aperture priority

Tree felling in the Garw Valley and the aftermath…….

Over the last few months the trees in the Garw Valley have been felled due to an outbreak of ‘Phytophthora ramorum’ which is a fungus-like pathogen of plants that causes extensive damage and mortality to trees and other plants.

It is so sad to look out of my windows overlooking the once green hills that are now barren due to this disease but from what I have read this is the only way to stop the spread.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-85TDX6

I decided to take a walk and try to document how this has changed the once beautiful tree covered valley using both Digital and Film.

All these photographs were taken using a Nikon FM2n and 50mm lens on ilford Delta 400 and hopefully shows the decimation this has caused, I think the Black and White gives a more poignant/sad feel to the images.

I am sure mother nature will prevail and cover this once green valley again.

Thanks for looking……  click to view a larger image….. 

“Bridgend Mashup” digital version……..

As I said in my previous blog post I also shot some of the action type stuff digitally which was so much easier than trying to shoot full manual on my film camera…….

The band shots were also shot on film and I prefer the more gritty feel of the film shots over the cleaner/sharper digital ones.

As you can see in this post there are far more digital photographs than film but that is the thing I like about film it makes you choose your shots far more carefully.

There is no way I would go back to shooting film for everything but I will be taking a film camera be it an SLR or a compact like my Olympus Trip everywhere alongside my DSLR as I feel it really compliments the digital shots and I really enjoy shooting and processing film again.

Thanks for looking

click on an image for a larger version…….

 

More from the Classic Car Show…….

I have manage to edit some of my digital shots from the Classic Car show I visited the other week. There is a mix of cars and portraits, I noticed that this year I shot far more people shots than cars which showed me the way my photography is starting to go.

I really like shooting people be it portraits or just candidly in the street and since getting back into film that is what I want to do more than any other photography.

I still like the look I get when tone mapping Classic cars, this type of look is not appreciated by everyone but I like it….lol

Thanks for looking…..  click on an image to see it larger

Not the usual Shots……..

We have visited the Lightboat in Cardiff bay on many occasions and it has featured in many of my photographs in and around the bay so this time I decided to have a different outlook and just shoot details and abstracts instead of the normal everyday photos.

The lightship Helwick LV14 was built and commissioned by Trinity House in 1953. It was brought to Cardiff Bay in 1993 and restored to create a floating Christian Centre.

A link to the wesite is here  http://www.lightship2000.co.uk/ it’s well worth a visit if you are in the Bay, they do a very good pot of Tea and their Welshcakes are good too!

All the shots were taken with my D300s and Sigma 30mm f1.4

Click on images to see much larger……….

Who thought that a Film Scanner could be so addictive?………

As a few of my followers of my blog know I have started getting back into shooting film again.

It’s a very enjoyable experience but is not a cheap pastime so I decided to take the film scanning part of the cost out by purchasing my own film scanner, an Epson Perfection V330 Photo to be precise.

link : http://www.epson.co.uk/Store/Scanners/Epson-Perfection-V330-Photo

Not only can I scan in my newly shot negatives but I had loads of old stuff dying to see the light of day and enter the digital world.

I have noticed that it is far easier to scan the new negs than it is the old ones, even though I thought I had taken care of them every little imperfection really stands out when scanned at 3200 dpi or approx 12 megapixel which is plenty for what I want to use them for.

I have uploaded some of my first scans, a mixture of old ( my daughter Amy on her 3rd Birthday 14 years ago) and some taken last weekend.

I am really impressed with the scanner it is pretty quick and the quality is first class, I scanned the neg of my son that I took a few weeks ago to compare it to the original scan I had when getting the film processed and I must say it was like chalk and cheese this little scanner took the prize.

comments very welcome……..

I Shoot People………….

I have no speciality when it comes to my photography, not being a Professional and having to earn my living at it so my photos are very varied.

The one thing that I have found over the last couple of years is that I enjoy shooting people more and more.

I have off camera flashes and studio lights but much prefer take photographs of people either candidly or much better after meeting them when I am out and about and taking an informal type of portrait.

Since getting back into film recently I am looking forward to shooting in this style on various types of film camera and waiting in anticipation for the results……..

Here is a little selection of shots, so of which I have posted on the web previously but some are new.

Comments as always very welcome…….

Snow comes to the Valley…………

The weather forecast was for snow to arrive here in South Wales around 10am on Saturday and they were not wrong, it snowed until late afternoon when sadly it turned to rain but as it was still extremely cold overnight most of the remaining snow has turned to ice.

Because it was snowing while we went out for a walk I didn’t really want to take my DSLR so used my trusty Olympus E-PL1 and as it is always in my pocket my iPhone4 using Hipstamatic.

The iPhone shots used the combination of the James M lens with Ina’s 1969 film.

While the Olympus was set to Pinhole mode and the emulsion frame effect was added in Photoshop.

iPhone……

Comments greatly accepted…………..

 

You have to love Film………..

I took my 1st roll of film to Boots today for their 1hour service just to see the test results from my new Nikon FM2n.

I shot various subjects just to get used to using a fully manual camera on Kodak Ultramax 400 film. The portraits were shot using the Nikkor 85mm f1.8 and the others with the Nikkor 50mm f1.8.

I wasn’t very impressed with printing or the scans from Boots but I was very pleased with the focus and exposure considering I am used to Aperture priority and Autofocus.

I can’t wait to get some Fuji Professional PRO 400H and some Kodak Professional Portra 400 and shoot loads more stuff but get it processed by a decent lab.

The camera is a real pleasure to use and I am so pleased with the results, there is such a difference between using Film to shooting Digital it slows me down and makes me think about the photograph instead of just snapping away and picking the best in post production.

Feedback on the photographs greatly received……..

Am I Becoming a Camera Whore…….?

This weekend I have added another camera to my collection and have come to the conclusion that I am becoming a camera whore……. lol

The Nikon FM2n that I got my hands on is a dream camera, when I was in school I looked at the Nikons and longed to own one but never managed to get one.

I have a few film cameras now and do use them but not as much as I should but this FM2n is definitely going to change that.

I have just put my first roll of film through her and it was such a good feeling ( manual only was very liberating) and really slowed my photography down to a snails pace.

I cannot see myself shooting any sports with this camera even though it goes to 1/4000 sec but having to manage the aperture and shutter speed is not as easy as the Aperture priority I have been used to for the las 30 years or so.

Here are some shots of my lovely cameras messed about with in Photoshop    🙂